Page 77 of Maid For Each Other

Abi:Trust me, I will.

25

New York

Abi

“I guess I just don’t understand this reluctance.”

Lauren’s voice sounded loud over the speakerphone as she said, “You have always wanted to visit New York and now you have a rich friend who is going to pay for you to spend a day in the city with him. Why would this even require any thought?”

“Well, it’s more complicated than that,” I said as I scrubbed the grout with a toothbrush. According to my boss, the lady who lived in this unit was very particular, so I always made sure to be attentive to every detail so I didn’t have trouble later.

“For starters, he just paid me to pretend to be his girlfriend for a weekend. We kissed a couple times and even though it was all part of the show, they were good enough kisses to make me unsure if I should spend more time with him.”

“What exactly are you afraid of?” Lauren asked. “Are you saying you think you’ll fall for him, or are you saying you thinkyou two will hook up? Or wait—are you worried he’s into you and you’re not into him?”

I didn’t know what to say, but I was saved from responding when she spoke up again. “None of those sound like a reason not to go, though. If you’re kind of into him, why wouldn’t you want to lean into this weekend? It sounds like he just wants to hang out with you, which is the perfect opportunity to explore the vibes. If you’re concerned you two will hook up, either do it because it sounds fun and there are no strings attached, or don’t do it because you’re a grown-ass woman and you don’t have to.”

I hated that she was making sense.

“I understand that this is an odd situation because your relationship has been transactional so far, but this is different, right? This is entirely unrelated. This is a guy who wants to hang out with his friend, so if you like him, you should go and have a good time. Embrace it.”

“Really? So you think I should go.”

“I do, unless you think he might be dangerous or something.”

“No—he’s not. But…” Suddenly I was struggling to remember why it seemed like such a terrible idea.

“And I’m looking into his little side hustle with his bestie,” she said, “but that Roman guy’s name doesn’t pull anything so I’m guessing it’s a legit investment thing. I found something on one of the names on that list that I’m checking out, but if that comes back clean, they’re just two boring rich dudes doing boring rich-dude things.”

“I knew it. Did you delete the photo?”

“Of course,” she said, sounding disgusted by the question. “So…? You’re dragging your feet why…?”

“I don’t know, I guess I saw all weekend how little he treasures things, right? He offered to give me a car, he wrote me a huge check without thinking about it, he’s throwing free trips out there without a second thought. He is so rich that nothing means anything to him. So I guess I just wonder about me in this scenario.”

“Do you mean romantically?” she asked.

“No, I mean even as a friend. I could totally see him wanting me as a friend until he gets bored with me and then just tosses me to the side like he does cars and money and everything else that he’s finished with.”

“Oh, honey, you’re overthinking here,” she said, her tone turning maternal. “That could happen even if you don’t go visit him. You’re always worrying about the future, but sometimes you need to take a chance and enjoy the now.”

“I suppose,” I said, wondering if she was right.

“And it’s freaking New York, baby—come on.”

I didn’t tell her that I’d decided not to keep the $40K, because I had a feeling she’d see it the same way as New York. She was a good person with good values, but she was also very practical and wouldn’t understand why I’d give up money that was already agreed upon.

“I need to get going, babe, but I feel like the only reason you would say no is if you’re starting to have feelings for him and don’t know how to move forward with that.”

“That’s not true,” I said. “I legitimately just like the guy, money values aside. That is all.”

“So you like him,” Lauren said. “That’s nice. You’re not great at getting close to people, so I think it’s great that you’re looking to expand your posse.”

Her nice way of saying I had no friends.

I dipped the brush in my bucket and said, “Did you seriously just say ‘posse’?”

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